Misir Wat (Ethiopian Spiced Red Lentils)

Written on 29 April, 2018

This post contains affiliate links.

I’ve partnered with my favorite broth brand Aneto to bring you this recipe.

One of Ethiopia’s most popular vegetarian dishes, Misir Wat showcases lentils in a way that’s unlike any you’ve had before. The flavor is simply out of this world! Vegetarian-friendly and so delicious that even devout carnivores won’t miss the meat!

It’s been said that the best vegetarian cuisines in the world are Indian and Ethiopian and I can’t disagree. The flavor profiles of both cuisines bring even the blandest ingredients to life with their rich combinations of spices and herbs.

Misir Wat (also Misir Wot) is one such example of a dish that truly excels in the vegetarian realm. A dish featuring red lentils, an abundantly available crop, Misir Wat is a staple dish throughout Ethiopia and one of the most popular vegetarian dishes in Ethiopian restaurants. If you order a mixed combination platter at an Ethiopian restaurant or order vegetarian, misir wat is almost always among the selections.

Misir wat starts with onions that are slowly caramelized in niter kibbeh, Ethiopia’s popluar and incredibly flavorful spiced clarified butter. Garlic and tomato paste are added. The comes a generous dose of berbere, Ethiopia’s famous chili seasoning blend. It’s normally fiery-hot (and what you get in Ethiopia is even hotter than what you typically find outside of the country), but our blend tones down the heat and gives you the option of adding it according to your preference.

The lentils are then slow-simmered with these highly aromatic and flavorful ingredients until they’re soft. Another spoonful of niter kibbeh and berbere are added in at the end for an added boost of flavor.

Misir wat is typically served with injera, Ethiopia’s staple fermented flatbread that’s also used as an eating instrument to scoop up the lentils.

Let’s get started!

Melt 3 tablespoons of the niter kibbeh in a medium stock pot. Add the onions and cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

Add the garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste and 1 tablespoon of the berbere and cook for 5-7 minutes. Reduce the heat if needed to prevent burning.

Next we’re adding the broth. As with everything I recommend using the best ingredients you can find and the broth we love and recommend with enthusiasm is Aneto. We visited their factory in Barcelona Spain a year ago and watched the entire broth-making process from start to finish. It was so inspiring! Check out our post about it and take a virtual tour.

Aneto selects fresh, free-range chicken and the freshest vegetables and slow-simmer it in gigantic pots for several hours to produce the highest quality broths on the market. No concentrates, powders, artificial ingredients, “natural flavors”, GMO’s, fillers or flavor enhancers of any kind. Just pure, whole, real ingredients. We love and highly recommend Aneto.

For misir wat you can use either chicken broth or if you’re vegetarian, vegetable broth.

Once you’ve added the broth and salt, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer the lentils, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes (adding more broth if needed) or until the lentils are soft.

Stir in the remaining tablespoon of niter kibbeh and berbere. Simmer for a couple more minutes. Add salt to taste.

Enjoy!

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR BEST FLAVOR RESULTS: MAKE YOUR OWN NITER KIBBEH AND BERBERE!

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!! I had some of my homemade niter kibbeh and homemade berbere (made your recipes for both) left after making your doro wat recipe and had these lentils whipped up in no time. The results far exceeded my expectations, the flavor was phenomenal. Will be making this again for sure.

I tried making this and found out that you only need 1 tablespoon of berbere spice. Even with just 1 tablespoon it was very hot and practically made your hair stand on end! I ended up having to eat twice as much yogurt on the side! I would not recommend using 2 tablespoons like the recipe says. Besides that, it was a good recipe. I am going to try making it again with 1/3 of a tablespoon and see if I have an easier time eating it!

Rachel, that’s the nature of authentic Ethiopian food, berbere is H.O.T. and that’s how the Ethiopians like it. I can’t tolerate a lot of heat either and so to cater to Western tastes (including my own) I provided a recipe for my own homemade berbere. It’s not only much milder but far more flavorful than store-bought and those are both the reasons why in the misir wat recipe I strongly recommend making and using the homemade berbere. The problem with using store-bought berbere and cutting back on the amount is that yes, it will be milder, but you’ll also lose a ton of flavor. Try the homemade berbere and I’m confident you’ll love it :)

@Rachel berbere is HOT. I’ve been making Kimberly’s berbere blend since last year and it’s all I use anymore. I agree with her, it has so much more flavor than the stuff from the store and it’s more mild. I actually like the heat so I add extra red chili to it. But the flavor can’t be beat and I agree, use the full amount called for in this recipe because the flavor is amazing. I made these lentils last night and am enjoying the leftovers today. Outstanding!!

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